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Pelops
In Greek mythology, Pelops (Greek: Πέλοψ, "dark eyes" or "dark face") was a son of Tantalus and Dione and a king of Pisa in the Peloponnesus. He married Hippodamia and had many children, including: Pittheus, Troezen, Alcathous, Dimoetes, Pleisthenes, Atreus, Thyestes, Copreus, Hippalcimus, Sciron, Cleones, Letreus, Astydamia, Nicippe, Lysidice, and Eurydice. By Axioche, Pelops was the father of Chrysippus. Mythology Death and resurrection Tantalus, Pelops' father, wanted to make an offering to the Olympians so he cut Pelops into pieces, boiled his flesh into a stew, and served it to the gods. Demeter, deep in grief after the abduction of her daughter, absentmindedly accepted the offering and ate his left shoulder. The other gods, however, sensed the plot and held off from eating the boy's body. While Tantalus was banished to Tartarus for his actions, Pelops was ritually reassembled and brought back to life by Clotho with his shoulder being replaced with one made of ivory. After his resurrection, Poseidon took him to Olympus and made him his youth apprentice and taught him how to drive the divine chariot. Zeus found out about Tantalus stealing the food of the gods and revealing their secrets, and threw Pelops out of Olympus for his anger at his father. Hippodameia After growing to manhood, Pelops wished to marry Hippodamia. Her father, King Oenomaus, fearful of a prophecy that claimed he would be killed by his son-in-law, had killed eighteen suitors of Hippodamia after defeating them in a chariot race and affixed their heads to the wooden column fo his palace. Pelops came to ask for her hand and prepared to race Oenomaus. Worried about losing, Pelops invoked Poseidon, his former lover, Reminding Poseidon of their love, he asked Poseidon for help. Smiling, Poseidon caused a chariot drawn by untamed winged horses to appear. However, Pelops was still unsure of himself so he convinced the charioteer of Oenomaus, Myrtilus, a son of Hermes, to help him win. Pelops convinced Myrtilus by promising him half of Oenomaus' kingdom and the first night in bed with Hippodamia. The night before the race, while Myrtilus was putting together Oenomaus' chariot, he replaced the bronze linchpins attaching the wheels to the chariot axle with fake ones made of beeswax. The race started and went on for a long time. But just as Oenomaus was catching up to Pelops and readying to kill him, the wheels flew off and the chariot broke apart. Myrtilus survived but Oenomaus was dragged to his death by his horses. Pelops then killed Myrtilus by throwing him off a cliff into the sea after he attempted to rape Hippodamia. Olympic Games After his victory, Pelops organized chariot races as thanks for the gods and as funeral games in honor of King Oenomaus. It was from this funeral race that the beginnings of the Games were inspired. Pelops became a great king, a local hero, and gave his name to the Peloponnese. Curse As Myrtilus died, he cursed Pelops for his ultimate betrayal. This was the source of the curse that destroyed his family: two of his sons, Atreus and Thyestes, killed their half brother, Chrysippus, who was his favorite son adn was meant to inherit the kingdom; Atreus and Thyestes were banished by him together with Hippodamia, their mother, who then hanged herself; each successive generation of descendants suffered greatly by atrocious crimes and compounded the curse by committing more crimes. Category:Greek mythology Category:Greek mortals